Photo Galleries

Stepping in to take over the route established by a longtime area culinarian, Stracks-Mullem's Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours has filled the void left by outgoing expert Liz Biro, who's swapped the beach for the prairie to work as a food and restaurant reporter for the Indianapolis Star.

For about a month, Wilmington went without a knowledgeable escort shining a light into the dark corners of dusky dining rooms, and Blue Haven Bed & Breakfast innkeeper Jay Gartrell, for one, is happy to see the service return.

"There are a lot of good places to eat around here, and part of my job is knowing where to send people," he said before the group made an opening stop at the Dixie Grill.

"I think Wilmington is coming in to its own as a farm-to-table town," she said while hiking down Market Street. "It's become a real foodie market. I think it's one of the top attractions now, I really do, and this is a great introduction to the downtown restaurant scene."

It isn't just diners who benefit from the business. Le Catalan owners Pierre and Marie Penegre, moments after entertaining the group with wine, bread and their magnetic banter, agreed that the food tours are a boon to area restaurants.

"It's a very good product because we're a tourist town," he said. "We need to have things for when people ask, 'Why should I come to Wilmington?' It can only be beneficial for me and the rest of the community."

Taste Carolina debuted in the Triangle area five years ago, and has since expanded to include tours in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Hillsborough, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham. Turning the corner at Third and Princess streets en route to a sampler of gyros and falafel at The Greeks, Stracks-Mullem explains the business' appeal – and by extension the secret to its success – in terms any dedicated foodie can appreciate.

"It's fun for me. I like to explore, find the hidden gems," she said. "I want to take people to places they would not see otherwise."

Culinary tourism is nothing new. Moments after washing down a soul food feast complete with the first decent collard greens she's found in the Midwest, Biro noted during a phone call that guides like Peggy Markel started placing ads in major national food magazines two decades ago. But Wilmington's a rung or 12 below Tuscany or Seville, and it wasn't an easy sell in the beginning.

"I couldn't give the tours away," Biro said of the business she launched in 2010.

It didn't take long for that tide to turn, however, and she quickly found herself atop lists of recommended activities on influential tourism websites like TripAdvisor.com and written up in travel sections of such papers as The Charlotte Observer. Visitors and locals alike were hooked on her insider's knowledge of restaurants and the story behind each plate.

"A lot of people who had sworn off downtown would begrudgingly come on a tour with someone else or because they got a gift certificate, and it changed their whole perception," Biro said. "I happen to know a lot about it because it was my job, but it wasn't me that was making the tours so fantastic. It was really the restaurants and the city that made it so special."

Stracks-Mullem has hired local guides to join her in running the Wilmington routes, assuring a first-hand knowledge of area history, landmarks and, of course, delicious secrets. Covering much of the turf established by Biro, Stracks-Mullem said customers can expected an amplified emphasis on Cape Fear history as the tour evolves.

Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours will run every Saturday in downtown Wilmington, and they come in three flavors. The 9:30 a.m. Farmers' Market Tour and Cooking Class is $75 per person; the 2:30 p.m. Downtown Afternoon Tasting tour is $50; and the 3:30 p.m. Downtown Dinner & Drinks Tour is $65. For complete details, visit www.TasteCarolina.net.

Contact Paul Stephen at 343-2041 or Paul.Stephen@StarNewsOnline.com. Find him on Twitter @pauljstephen, or drop a note at the Port City Foodies' Facebook page.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.